Otto hitter



l(No Model.)

- O. RITTER. YEAST AERATOR PoR BEER VATS.

Patented Dec. 29, 1891.

WoRT AND l'lllllhl,

IIIHIII III III

IIII I 'llIIl III to effect the' rapid and thorough amalga'mation,aeration, and purification of wort and 'l 'yeast in brewers vats, dac.;and the invention UNITD STATES PATENT OFFICE,

OTTO RITTER, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF Ola E-H'ALF TO MEYER tHOFMAN, OFA SAME PLACE;

v WORT AND YEAST AERATOR FOR BEER-VATS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 466,310, dated December29, 1891.

Application filed August 4, 1891. Serial No. l101,658. (No model.)

To all whomk it may concern:

city'of St. Louis, in the State of Missouri, have invented a-certain newand useful Improvement in Wort and Yeast Aerators for Beel'- AVats, ofwhich the following is a full, clear, and exact description, referencebeing had to vthe accompanying drawings, forming part of thisspecification. Y

This apparatus is constructed and arranged consists in features ofnovelty hereinafter fully described, and pointed out in the claims.Figure I isa detailview of the aerator and shows the coupling for theair-hose, the airilter, the bulb-casing of which lter forms a handle orhold for the operator, by which he directs the instrument. It also showsthe i`nception filtered air-chamber, the supply airtube, and thecompound aerating-bulb;` and Fig. II is a vertical section of a brewersfermenting-va't and shows the yeast and wort aerator in active operationtherein.

Referring to the drawings, 1 represents a brewers vat resti-ng on itssleepers 2, and 3 is the Wort with its quota of yeast deposited i-n saidvat and'iu the process of fermentation. 4 represents the usualcirclettelnperator v that is suspended in the wort within the vat,

and 'are the refrigerator-pipes that conduct a current of cold air to,through, and from said temperator.

The construction and operation of the aerating apparatus are as follows:6 represents a pneumatic hose, which may be of rubber or any othersuitable material, and which gets its supply of air from any suitablepneumatic force-pump worked by power or hand. The said-hose lits overthe corrugated periphery7 of the metal coupling-tube joint 8, to whichit is tightly held by the binding wire orfcord 9, and the terminaliiauge 10 of said tubejoint lits and is thus held within the iange 11 ofthe screw-coupler 12, whose inner screw 13 engages on the rearperipheral screw 14 of the coupling-tube plug 15, whose forwardperipheral screw 16 engages in the internal screw 17 of the initialdange 18 of the tubulous bulb 19, which incloses the air-filter 20. Thesaid filter-bulb is filled with sterilized cotton 21 or other suitableairY filtrant as an antiseptic to cleanse the air that passes f throughit of all noxious ingredients. resents a perforate disk that litsagainst the advance screw-threaded end 23 of said tubulous lter-bulb, onwhich peripheral screw is Y seated the internal screw 24 of the reariange 22 rep- 55 25 of the secondary tubulous bulb 26, which in- 6ocloses the pure-air chamber 27, which is supplied with cleansed airthrough the perforations in said disk 22 direct from the said airfilter.

engages on the peripheral screw 30 of the joint-pipe 31, which pipe hasa screw-tight attachment ma the elbow-joint pipe 32 with the pendentpipe 33, which pendent pipe has a The internal screw 2S of the forwardattachment fiange 29 of said secondary bulb 6 5 y screw-tight connection34 with the head 35 of 75o the initial tubular plug 36.

37 represents the secondary aerating tubular plug, within the internalscrew 38 of which the peripheral screw 39 of the initial plug engages toeffect a screw-tight-joint connection of said two plugs. 40 representsthe expanf sion air-chamber within said initial plug, into which theforced air is driven from the pendent pipe 33, and from which chamberthe air is concentratively driven through the con- 8o verging tube 4l,the blow-pipe 42, and concave outlet 43 into and through the initialyeast and wort mixing and aerating concentrating-tube 44 within saidsecondary aerat- The rapid forced draft thus pro- 8 5 in g-plug 37.vided produces a powerful suctionvof lthe wort and yeast in the vatthrough the open ports 45 in the upper part of said aerating-l tube, andtogether the wort, yeast, and rapid air-current are forciblyconcentrated in'said 9o converging tube 44, thus intimately mixing saidwort and yeast and aerating the same by said concentrative process, andthen violently ejecting the aeriferous compound into the expansive bulb46, from which it is violently ejected through the perforations 47 ofits rose end 4S. The said action forcibly drives the aerated compoundagainst the inner surface of the rose-terminalof said bulb,

and thus still more intimately and forcibly rco conducing to theaeration and effervescence of the fermenting compound, both within saidbulb, and as it is forcibly ejected into the vat through theperforations or open ports 47 the whole contents of the vat`aresoon'aerated 105 and in a high state of effervescence.` The upl l-ru n per end of said bulb-terminal section 46 is provided with aninternal screw 49, that is screw-seated on the peripheral screw 50 ofthe secondary plug to hold said bulb in its attachment to said plug.

The operation of the device has necessarily been mostly portrayed inthis description, but may be more clearly understood by the followingbrief capitulation and addenda. The tubulous filter-bulb 19 having beenfilled with sterilized-that is, purified-cotton and the various parts ofthe apparatus described before securely screw-seated together andattached to the pneumatic hose,which is worked by a force-pump theoperator grasps the said tubulous filter-bulb, which also constitutes ahandle, and inserts the aerating-bulb and the pipe-stem 33, that carriesit in the wort and yeast in the beervat. As the airis forced rapidlythrough the apparatus, being cleansed of all noxious impurities as itpasses thronghthe before-described pneumatic filter, it whirls (with thefirst break in its current since it left the filter) into theexpansion-chamber 40, from which it darts through the convergingcontractile tube 41 'via the blow-pipe 42 and concave expansion-outlet43 into the aerating concentrating-tube 44, generating a strongsuction-draft through the open ports 45, drawing a rapid current of thewort and yeast in the vat through said ports into and through saidaerating concentrating-tube, aerating it on its way and expelling itWith great force and thrashing it against the perforate roseexpansionbulb 46 and through the perforations 47 into the main body ofwort and yeast in the vat, which it rapidly aerates and ferments. Theoperator meantime moves the aeratingbulb around: so that it visits inits journey all parts of the vat, so as to make the aeration andfermentation of the contents much more rapid than by the old process,repeated trials ofthe device having proved a saving of two days in theoperation, with a more lively and effective fermentation.

, I claim as my invention- 1. In a wort and yeast aerator for beer-vats,the combination of the pneumatic hose 6, the air-filter into which saidhose discharges, the aerating and mixing bulb 46, havingthetubular plug37. the said plug being provided with the open ports 45, through whichthe yeast and wort are drawn by suction within said bulb for mixture andaeration, and the air-tube that connects said filter to said bulb,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

2. In a Wort and yeast aerator for beer-vats, the combination of thepneumatic hose 6, arranged for connection to a pneumatic forcepump, thetubulous bulb 19, to which said hose is connected, the said bulbcontaining the air-filter chamber, the sterilized cotton thatconstitutes the filtrant in said chamber, the air-tube that receives anddispenses said forced filtered air, and the compound aerating and mixingbulb into and through which said forced draft is delivered, said bulbbeing provided with entrance-ports throughwhich the wort and yeast insaid vat are drawn for mixture, substantially as and for the purpose setforth.

3. In a Wort and yeast aerator for beer-vats, the combination of thepneumatic hose arranged for connection to a force-pump, the tubulousbulb 19, to which said hose is connected, the said bulb containing theair-filter chamber 20, the filtrant in said chamber, the perforate disk22 at the forward end of said chamber, the pure-air chamber 27, theairtube that receives and dispenses said forced filtered air, and thecompound aerating and mixing bulb into and through which said filteredforced air with the wort and yeast in said vat are churned and aerated,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

4. In a wort and yeastaerator for beer-vats, the combination of thepneumatic hose arranged for connection to a force-pump, the tubulousbulb 19, to which said hose is connected, the air-filter chamber 20,contained in said bulb, the filtrant in said chamber, the pel-.foratedisk 22 at the forward end of said chamber, the secondary bulb 26, thepure forced air chamber 27 within said secondaryl bulb, thc air-tubethat receives and dispenses said forced filtered air, the initial plug36 of the aerating and mixing bulb, said initial plug containing theexpansive air-chamber 40, thecon verging tube 4l, the blow-pipe 42, andthe expanding concave outlet 43, and the perforated compound aerat-ingand mixing bulb into which said initial tubulous plug 36 is inserted,substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

5. In a Wort and yeast aerator for beer-vats, the combination of thepneumatic hose arranged for connection to a force-pump, the tubulousbulb 19, to which said hose is connected, the air-filter chamber 20 andfiltrant 21, contained in said bulb, the perforate disk 22 at theforward end of said chamber, the pure forced air chamber 27 andsecondary bulb 26, in which said air-chamber is con'- tained, theair-tube that receives and dispenses said forced filtered air, theinitial tubulous plug 36 of the aerating and mixing bulb, the said plugcontaining the expansive charnber 40, the concentrating blow-pipe tubes4l and 42, and the expansion-outlet 43, the secondary tubulous plug 37,provided with the open ports 45, through which the Wort and yeast enterfor mixture and aeration, the aerating concentrating-tube 44, and theexpansion-bulb 46, in which said secondary bulb is seated and in whichsaid wort and yeast are churned and aerated, the said bulb being provided with rose-perforations 47, through which the acrated Wort andyeast are forcibly blown into the contents of the beer-vat, substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

OTTO RITTER.

In presence of- BENJN. A. KNIGHT, E. S. KNIGHT. t

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